Fortnightly blog on Random Generators, Tech Community and Coding

Launching on Patreon

If you are a creative then you might know of Patreon. It allows people to sponsor creators they like and I'm trying it out as a first step to making a living building Random Generators, so people can pay me to do something I love.

What is Patreon?

Patreon let's me support creative types, including gaming interests like EN World Gaming pdfs, the awesome webcomic Bearmageddon by Ethan Nicolle and the Podcast by Gnome Stew. Each month $1 or $2 from myself and other patrons allow these creators to continue producing things we enjoy.

For many of the creators it is not their primary income, just a supplement or one of several. However a select few do have enough patrons to fund their life full-time...

Why Go This Route?

If you are a creative in the tech world but looking for income outside of business and apps then Patreon may be for you. Maybe you have a community that can support your tech blog or podcast if you gave them away to show their appreciation.

One example of a tech creative effort is the Open Source platform OpenFL

Becoming a Patreon Creator

Setting up on Patreon as a creator is easy, requiring an account and 10-20 minutes setting up your Creator Pages. Patrons can be set-up to pay every month or on a per Podcast / Comic / update basis.

Different tiers of patrons pay different amounts and get different rewards which might be limited or unique. Gnome Stew give shout-outs to patrons on their podcast, ENWorld have a limited playtest group and Bearmageddon gives early previews of the comics.

When you do launch an existing community will help, as having those first few patron for social proof gives confidence to others who are interested. After launch you want regular updates to maintain and build interest. Most of these will be the regular rewards for your patrons but other items might grow the community and and give bonus material.

What is Chaos Generators?

Chaos Generators is my way of turning an interest into a source of income on the sep towards trying to do this professionally.

I am currently using scripting tools developed by others to create generators but will develop in Python and .NET as I build up my own generation tools and sites.

For rewards there are the random generators and I will let patrons vote on what to work on and a few can request custom generators.

The Future?

My plan eventually is to get paid for bespoke generators and find freelance work using things such as Faker.

A Remote Software and Database Contractor specialised in Umbraco, Duncan works from wherever he finds himself. He is the co-organiser of the Python Exeter and Data Science Exeter meetup groups and speaks about Remote Working, Umbraco, Python and .NET
Outside of work he is keen on travel, random generation, foreign languages and good food.